Bradford

Bradford, family name of prominent U.S. printers and editors. William Bradford (1663–1752) set up Philadelphia's first printing press and began New York's first newspaper, the Gazette, in 1725. His son, Andrew Bradford (1686–1742), started the first newspaper in Philadelphia, the American Weekly Mercury, in 1719. William Bradford, III (1722–91), grandson of William Bradford and nephew of Andrew Bradford, established the Pennsylvania Journal in 1742. Through this newspaper he fought for freedom of the press and became printer to the First Continental Congress.

See also: Printing.